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Chapter Text

'We did it!' was the first thought that ran through Feng Lan's head when she awoke, a triumphant grin stretching the sides of her face as she stared through the VR visor at her ceiling.

The Dictator of Life was dead. Somehow, against all odds, they'd saved Second Life from being completely shut down. We did it! We actually did it!

And yet...

...And yet...

Even as she grinned up at the empty ceiling, hot tears coursed down the sides of her face.

He's gone. Prince is gone.

Chapter Text

An outsider wouldn't believe that this was the scene of a victory if they looked around at the faces of each player. Everyone formed a circle around the spot where their liege had once been, staring in disbelief or crying with abandon. A lone figure still knelt at the spot where Prince had last existed, his hands shaking in mid-air where they had once grasped the Blood Elf's limp form.

Guileastos bowed his head and covered his face with his hands, weeping silently whilst Doll and Meatbun wailed in the background.

"I can't believe it," Lolidragon said softly. "He...he actually did it."

Gloom settled among the remaining members of the Odd Squad at her words, despite the victory they had just achieved. Doll threw herself into Yu Lian's arms, while Wolf stood next to them and stared at the ground, at a loss for words. Meatbun wailed inconsolably atop Doll's brunette hair.

The heart of Odd Squad, the king of Infinite City, their leader and friend...was gone.

"He...he can always recreate his character though!" Yu Lian said hopefully, a pained smile blossoming on her face. Lolidragon looked at her for a moment, and then her eyes fell.

"Mm...maybe."

Gui whirled around and glared at her, leaping to his feet. "Maybe? What is that supposed to mean!"

Lolidragon flushed slightly and looked away from his tear-streaked face. "Well...I'm...sort of the GM that created Prince's character."

Everyone stared at her blankly, unsure what to make of this news.

"And...?" Yu Lian prompted.

Lolidragon lifted her eyes to sheepishly look at her friends. "All the GMs sort of...broke the rules for Prince. Since he was the first player to ever log on the game, we ignored one of the most vital rules of Second Life and gave him one wish as a player. I was the one that conveyed his wish. I...I don't know if my superiors will grant that same wish a second time."

The corners of Gui's mouth drew into a frown. "What does that have to do with him recreating his character?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but a PM from Wu Qing distracted her. "What's going on over there, Lolidragon? Is everyone okay?"

"The Dictator of Life is dead. And Prince...well..."

There was a moment of silence, in which Gui's expression darkened even further. "Lolidragon, answer me!"

"I'm going to go check on her," Wu Qing said softly over their PM channel. "I'll...I'll talk to you later."

"Kay," she acknowledged softly, before a soft 'ding' in her ear announced his character logging off. She barely had time to glance back up at the rest of the Odd Squad before Gui was there, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.

"Answer me!" he shouted, voice cracking with grief and rage at the possibility of losing his most precious person forever.

Lolidragon gazed up at him sadly. "I swore I wouldn't tell. I'm sorry."

The bard's face crumpled in frustrated agony. "Why! Why does he tell everyone but me!"

"Maybe because you're too dense to realize why!" she snapped, frustrated with her own helplessness. The other team members glanced between the two of them in rising alarm, Meatbun's continued wails a backdrop to their angry shouting.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means he's been right in front of your eyes the whole damn time!" she shrieked at the clueless bard. "But you're so concerned with your own selfish jealousy and obsession to understand why he's so terrified of you finding out that he's actually-"

"Lolidragon."

She froze, her eyes widening in horror at the secret she'd almost spilled in her irrational anger. She glanced over at Ugly Wolf with a grateful smile for his interruption, and then turned back to look at Gui's horrified face.

"What..." he stammered. "He's been right in front of me? What do you-"

A sudden alarmed cry from Doll redirected everyone's attention to the smallest player of their group. Her head had previously been used as a perch for the abandoned Meatbun, but now only a small peach-colored, spotted egg remained in Doll's shaking hands.

System Message: Unknown's Pet, "Unknown," has reverted to Strange Egg. Ownership transferred to Doll. Please go to the nearest pet store to claim your new pet.

"Unknown?" whispered Doll. "He's...he's really gone? Forever?"

"Everyone," Wolf interjected softly. "I think you're forgetting the most important thing here."

All eyes fixated on the beastman, and he continued gently: "Prince is still alive, in the real world. We just have to find him. He is not lost forever."

Despite the consoling words, the gloom hanging over the Odd Squad refused to dissipate for the rest of the night; while meanwhile all of Infinite City's army celebrated their victory.

Elsewhere...

Feng Yang Ming opened his eyes in the darkness of his bedroom, but remained in his bed for several moments, simply listening. Beyond the usual noises of the city surrounding their home, he could just barely make out a slight hitching noise coming from the room across from his own. Sighing sadly, Yang Ming sat up and removed the dream helmet covering his head before padding softly over to his door. He paused in the hallway, one hand raised to knock on his sister's door.

His eyes softened at the quiet sobbing from the other side of the door, and he simply reached down to open it without knocking.

"Sis...?"

Normally, entering the room of Xiao Lan without knocking would earn you a swift punch or thrown object in the face, but the only thing he was greeted with upon entering her room was the sight of his sister weeping into her hands. He opened his mouth to toss out a ridiculous insult or joke to distract her from her pain...but then slowly closed his mouth moments later.

He couldn't think of anything to say anyway.

So instead, he simply sat next to her on the bed, and let her sob into his shoulder until morning.

Chapter Text

To say that she looked like a mess would be an understatement. Horrified, Feng Lan stared at herself in the mirror, focusing particularly on the ridiculous red blotches surrounding her puffy eyes. She'd never cried so much in her entire life.

How in the world am I going to hide this?, she thought miserably. A knock on the bathroom door interrupted her sinking depression.

"Ah! J-just a minute, I'm-"

"Xiao Lan?" the soft voice of her mother filtered through the door. "Are you alright?"

She bit her lip savagely to keep tears from forming in her eyes yet again. "I guess word travels fast in Second Life, huh?"

Her mother opened the door and fixed her with a gentle smile. "It does when the news concerns Prince."

Xiao Lan's vision blurred once more. "I...I..."

"Hush," her mother chided softly, stepping forward to envelope her daughter in a hug. "You can always recreate him. It's called Second LIfe for a reason, hm? This isn't the end."

Xiao Lan stared over her mom's shoulder for a brief moment, and then gave a tiny smile before returning the embrace. "Yeah...I suppose you're right."

Her mom pulled away to smile at her. "There, see? Now then, let's get rid of those red eyes of yours."

Later...

Lan slowly followed her brother along the sidewalk, heading toward XX University with the air of one approaching their own doom. Thoughts of her character being erased had suddenly taken a back-burner in comparison to the memory of her promise to Gui.

Why in the world did I promise him that!, she wailed inwardly, horrified at herself. Now what am I going to do?

"Sis, can we get to school sometime before the New Year, please?" her brother huffed irritably in front of her, holding his bag over his shoulder and tapping a foot impatiently.

She scowled at him. "Oh, just go on without me. I'll be right behind you."

He eyed her dubiously, his brown eyes filled with concern. Lan gazed back at him seriously, and he heaved a sigh before turning back towards the university. "Whatever, just don't blame me if you get in trouble for being late."

Yang Ming took off jogging towards their school, while she continued at a sedate pace far behind him. She stared at her feet as she walked, rather than keeping an eye on the direction she was heading in, while inwardly dreading the sight of her professor.

Maybe he's a total mess at losing Prince and decided to skip school, she thought half-jokingly. But then her amusement slowly faded as she thought back to the sight of his tear-streaked face pleading with her not to install the ND program. You promised him, Xiao Lan. Might as well get it over with.

With a heavy sigh, she raised her head and sped up her pace, heading for her first class of the day.

The hallway outside her Chinese Literature class was pure, unhindered chaos.

"Wha...what in the world?" Lan murmured in awe, eying the mass of photographers and reporters that were all attempting to surround the entrance to her classroom. She spotted her best friends at the outskirts of the throng, and quickly jogged to meet them.

"Good morning," she greeted them breathlessly. "What-"

"Xiao Lan!" they both cried, whirling around to envelope her in a massive hug. Her breath rushed out of her at the crushing blows.

"Guys, what the heck!" she managed to squeak.

Jing and Yun Fei both drew away from her with teary-eyed looks. Jing opened her mouth to say something, but then blinked and glanced back at the throng of reporters before making a frustrated noise and closing her mouth without speaking. Yun Fei simply eyed her with uncharacteristic solemnity.

Lan smiled at her devoted friends. "I know. And thank you, but I'll be okay."

They both returned her smile, and then Yun Fei gestured over his shoulder at the shouting mass of people. "They're interrogating the professor about Prince's disappearance from the Second Life player records."

Lan's eyes widened. "They don't know why, do they?"

Her friends both shook their heads, and she sighed in relief before focusing on the words behind the raised voices.

"Do you know of any reasons Prince may have had for deleting his character?"

"Is Prince getting tired of all the attention his fame has garnered?"

"Will he be re-making his character?"

"Do you know Prince's real identity?"

"How do you feel now that your team leader is missing?"

The questions made her scowl in anger. "Don't they know when to quit?"

From the center of the throng, she could just barely make out the sound of their panicked professor: "Please, I'm trying to teach a class! I have no comment, so please leave me alone!"

"How long have you known-"

"-at this time, are there any-"

"Do you think-"

"-any comments regarding-"

"Are you sure that-"

"-when will-"

Okay, that's it!

Though she would never possess the brute force of her male counterpart, Lan managed to shove her way through the throng of people and make it to her professor's side. Just as one particularly ardent reporter thrust a camera in Gui Wen's face, she drew back her arm and fiercely slammed her palm into its front, shattering the lens around her fingers.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she snarled angrily, the resounding sounds of shattered glass punctuating her words. The entire mass of people were stunned into complete silence, staring at the short girl who could so boldly interfere. She drew herself up to her full height (which, admittedly, wasn't much) and gave the group of reporters her frostiest glare. "I think you've harassed Professor Min quite enough for one day. Now...BEAT IT."

Taking advantage of the frozen throng of shocked onlookers, Lan quickly grabbed Gui's arm and dragged him through the group into their classroom – where Jing and Yun were waiting to happily slam the door behind them.

She glanced up at the professor with a tentative smile, releasing his arm. "Are you alright, Professor Min?"

Gui stared down at her with wide eyes, speechless.

After several moments of silence, she began to worry he'd gone into shock somehow. "Um...professor?"

He blinked sharply as though startled, and then smiled down at her. "Ah- yes. Thank you, Feng Lan."

"You're welcome," replied Lan, before she turned to head to her customary seat.

"Wah- Xiao Lan, you're bleeding!" Jing exclaimed, her wide eyes staring at the floor where a small trail of red droplets marked her path.

"Hm?" Lan looked down at the floor and followed the source of the dripping red liquid to her palm. "Oh, oops. It must've happened when I broke that guy's camera."

Funny, Lan thought with slightly amusement. I guess Second Life has increased my pain tolerance a bit. I didn't even notice.

"Let me see!" their professor ordered urgently from behind her, and he hastily grabbed hold of her wrist in order to critically examine her hand. "There's still glass inside. You need to go to the infirmary, Feng-xuesheng."

She waved her free hand. "No, no, I'll be fine! I'll just wrap it with-"

"Feng Lan!" Gui interrupted her sternly. "Go to the infirmary this instant."

Lan stared up at him for a moment, once again caught by the striking similarity between the professor and his Second Life counterpart. "I...okay. I'll go."

"Aren't the reporters still out there?" her brother inquired dubiously. "Someone should go with her."

Gui nodded at him. "Thank you, Yang Ming. Please escort her to the infirmary."

Ugh, could this day get any worse?

"No, I'll be fine. I'm sure they've given up by now," Lan hastily protested, before making a beeline for the door. True to her suspicions, the reporters had moved on down the hallway and appeared to be in a heated argument with the university's dean. She swiftly shut the door and strode in the opposite direction towards the infirmary, taking care not to jostle her left hand too much.

She didn't make it far.

"The CEO of Life Industries, owner of the internationally popular online game Second Life, has just made an important announcement."

Lan's steps slowed and then finally stopped, as she turned to look through the windows of the school cafe towards the vid-screen. Several students enjoying an early lunch had abandoned their lunch at the first words and were all staring at the screen with baited breath. An older man bearing a slight resemblance to Lolidragon appeared moments later on the screen, half-hidden behind a podium draped with his company's logo.

"I would like to announce that Second Life will be taken offline for several days due to an extended maintenance period. Due to overwhelming customer complaints regarding their characters being erased and being unable to log in to the game, we have decided to take the game offline in order to accurately fix these issues. I am happy to announce that all players experiencing this issue will have their Second Life counterparts restored to the game, with all data up to the last backup point, at the conclusion of the maintenance period."

Various students in the cafe let out a whooping cheer and started clapping. Lan felt like joining them, her heart fit to bursting, as she grinned at the vid-screen.

Prince isn't gone! I can-

"However, it is with great regret that I announce our inability to restore the data for the popular character known as Prince."

The cheering abruptly stopped. In the silence, Lan could almost hear her heart stop with them.

"We made a grave error when Prince's character was created, and ignored one of the most important rules placed in Second Life to protect its playerbase. Ignoring rules and making exceptions is one of the causes of the difficulties we are now experiencing, and thus we will not be restoring Prince's character or reinstating him as Second Life's spokesman. We ask for our customers' understanding in this matter as we-"

A strange buzzing filled Lan's ears, making it nearly impossible to hear the CEO's next words. How strange, she thought. Why...why can't I hear...

Her chest felt too tight. Her throat ached. Suddenly, it was much too hard to breathe.

No. No, you can't cry in the middle of the hallway. Get it together, Xiao Lan.

But where could she go?

She covered her eyes with her uninjured hand, trying hard to hold in the sobs fighting to break free of her burning throat as tears coursed down her face once again.

Where can I-

An image of a warm, furry smile popped instantly into her mind, and she dashed away in the direction of the infirmary – leaving drops of blood and tears in her wake.

Chapter Text

When Li Tian Lang opened the door to his infirmary, he was not expecting to see Feng Lan's tear-streaked face. Startled, he could only stare at her wordlessly.

"Wolf-dage..." she whispered breathlessly. "Can I...can I stay here? Just...just for a bit?"

His eyes softened. "Of course."

Tian Lang backed away from the entrance, allowing her to shuffle past him before he closed the infirmary door once again. Quiet hiccups came from the short girl standing in the center of the room, as she stared at the floor with trembling hands. Hands that were-

"You're bleeding!" he announced unnecessarily, immediately heading to the counter and grabbing a stool. "Come over here please."

She wordlessly obeyed, sitting on the stool without comment and cradling her left wrist in her shaking hand. He grabbed another stool and drew it closer to the girl, before meticulously removing each shard of glass remaining in her palm with his medical tweezers. As he worked, he continuously glanced up at her face – or rather, what he could see of her face, hidden behind her bangs.

"How did this happen?" he asked gently.

She sniffed delicately. "Camera."

He didn't quite know what to say to that, so he continued working in silence for a few moments more. After removing the last shard of glass, he grabbed her hand and moved it gently under the faucet so he could clean the wound.

"Does it hurt?" he continued, after shutting off the water and softly drying her palm. She mutely shook her head, and gave a hitching sob before burying her face in her right hand. The school doctor was rather confused by her answer, so he rubbed antibacterial cream into her palm as he thought.

It wasn't until he was wrapping the wound a few minutes later that he realized the true cause behind her tears.

"Hm. I guess you saw the news?"

An abrupt, hitching sob was his only answer, and he sighed deeply at her pain. "You can always just recreate him, you know."

She glanced up at him after a brief pause, the skin surrounding her eyes flushed a dark pink color. "Wh...what are you talking about, Wolf-dage?"

He smiled at her slightly. "You do realize that Prince is the only one who calls me that, right?"

Feng Lan opened her mouth to spout off another excuse, but her brain apparently was unable to supply anything suitable (or perhaps she didn't quite have the required energy), as she closed her mouth shortly thereafter. She let out a huffy, embarrassed sort of noise. "How long?"

"Have I known?" he questioned, then pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Mmm...well, I started suspecting the first time you called me dage, really. Especially when Gui told me that he hadn't said a word about me to any of his classes. Not to mention you look and act exactly like Prince."

She blushed and laughed nervously, raising a hand to scratch the back of her head in an endearingly familiar gesture. "I'm an idiot, huh?"

"Yeah," he agreed warmly, putting his hand gently on top of her head. "But we love you anyway."

Her face crumpled before his eyes. "Wolf-dage...what am I going to do? Prince is...Prince is gone."

"No, he's not," Tian Lang murmured gently. "Prince is right here, and always has been."

Fresh tears welled up and spilled silently down her cheeks. He hesitated for a brief moment, and then gently enveloped his friend in a bear hug (or wolf hug, he thought inwardly). For a long time after that, she simply clung to him and wept into his shirt. Eventually, her shuddering breaths quieted and smoothed, and she pulled away from him to wipe her face in embarrassment.

"Erm...sorry about that."

The older man smiled down at her encouragingly. "It's quite alright. But...why are you so upset? Can't you just make a new character?"

"But it won't be the same!" Lan protested immediately. Tian Lang's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, so she elaborated. "Being a male in the game allowed me to achieve things under my own strength! I didn't have to hide behind anyone and let them level me up, I didn't have people just giving me stuff to make things easier for me – I had to earn my levels and my gear. I had to create strong bonds between me and the people I ran across who might've been enemies but turned into friends instead. As a team, we worked together to build Infinite City from the ground up. If I have to start all over as a female, then...then I just..."

She trailed off, glaring at the bandages on her hand in frustration and swiping at the remaining wetness under her eyes. The doctor wisely let her collect her thoughts instead of interrupting, curious to see what else his friend would confide.

"Prince was my escape," Lan admitted quietly. "I could be whoever I wanted to be, no matter what that meant. I could be myself. And I didn't have to worry about people being horrified by such a violent and unladylike girl. I didn't have to worry about guys being repulsed or girls not wanting to be my friend, because it's okay for guys to be aggressive and crazy – no one cared that I was a violent warrior, because I was a man. Guys are supposed to like killing things."

"I don't," Tian Lang replied promptly.

She frowned up at him, making an irritated noise low in her throat. "You know what I mean."

"No, I really don't," he laughed. Her expression quickly morphed into a scowl, and he hastened to elaborate. "Really! What makes you think that any of the people who care about you so much are suddenly going to hate you if they find out you're female? Did it ever matter to your family or your friends? You're still the same person, and that's okay. The people that matter most to you, the ones that love you for who you are – they're not going to care. I certainly don't, and Lolidragon never seemed to mind. Gui, Doll, Yu Lian – none of them would care."

He waited a moment to see if he'd gotten through to her, but quickly discerned from her childish pout that he wasn't getting far.

"Gui would care," she muttered darkly.

"You're right, he would," Tian Lang amended. "He'd probably be ecstatic."

Her petite head jerked up so she could stare at him, wide-eyed. "What are you talking about? He'd be horrified! I've been lying to him this whole time!"

Tian Lang chuckled. "He'd be ecstatic because he'd finally get to find out who you are. Do you really think it would matter to him that you aren't male?"

"YES!"

The doctor couldn't stop himself from laughing outright at her vehement words. Lan flushed with embarrassment, and struggled to find a non-violent way to express her growing fury.

"Feng Lan," Tian Lang said warmly, still chortling in amusement. "When did Gui ever say that he loved you because you were a guy?"

Her cheeks flushed even more vividly at his easy pronouncement of the bard-teacher's love for her. "When I first met him! He said that guys were better, and that he was only kissing my hand because I was a guy."

"Then he lied."

"And how the hell would you know?" she growled irritably, forgetting that she could easily get into trouble for talking so brashly to one of her school's staff members.

He smiled at her kindly, the corners of his eyes crinkling in the same manner of his online counterpart. "Because he isn't gay."

"How can you possibly say that when-"

With a loud bang, the door to the infirmary crashed open and caused both of its inhabitants to jump in startled alarm as Gui rushed breathlessly into the room. "Wolf-ge, have you seen the news? The Second Life CEO said-"

He paused in mid-rant, catching sight of his student and his friend both sitting close together. "Er..."

"He deserves to know," Tian Lang murmured seriously in an undertone so only she could hear, before standing and turning towards the frantic teacher. "Yes Gui, I did indeed hear the news. Makes you wonder exactly what rule they broke, now doesn't it?"

With a mischievous wink aimed at Lan, the doctor swiftly bypassed the rather confused professor and exited the infirmary. The door closed snugly behind him.

Gui blinked, and then looked back at his student. "Um. Are you alright, Feng Lan?"

She swallowed nervously, and stood from her seat to face him fully. "Y-yes, I'm fine now."

"I'm glad," Gui answered warmly, smiling at her in that dazzling way that had first caught her attention in the middle of Star City's town square. She stared at him for a moment, her heart beating rapidly in her ears.

You promised him, she reminded herself. With a shaky breath, she opened her mouth.

"Are you ready to go to your next class?"

She paused. "N...no, not yet. There's something I want to...talk to you about."

Gui frowned at her. "What is it?"

"I...I..." she stuttered, and then swiftly blurted it out before she lost her nerve. "I know who Prince is!"

His eyes widened in surprise at her words, and he stared at her with his mouth partly open. "Wh-"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," she continued nervously. "But I-"

"Feng-xuesheng," he interrupted with a strained smile. "As much as I would love to know, I would really rather hear it from him."

"No, that's not what I was trying to-"

"I appreciate what you did this morning, but-"

"Wait, I need to-"

"-since you're alright, you should probably-"

"Professor!"

"-head back to class as soon as-"

"Gui, shut up for a moment and listen to me!" she snarled angrily. The professor froze at her outburst for a few moments, and then his eyes hardened.

"Feng Lan, I am your teacher and I don't appreciate you speaking to-"

"I AM PRINCE!" she bellowed. Gui's eyes widened impossibly as she stood there, breathing hard from the adrenaline and her own pounding heart.

"Y-you...wh-"

She exhaled slowly. "I am Prince. It's me, Gui. It's always been me."

Chapter Text

They stared at each other for a long moment, the ghostly echo of her words laying heavily over the sudden silence. Gui was the first to recover, blinking and shaking his head as though clearing it from a dream.

"That's-" his voice cracked, and he cleared his throat swiftly. "That's impossible. Gender changes are forbidden in Second Life."

"Not if you're the first player to log in," she whispered. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. She'd never been so nervous in her entire life. "Lolidragon asked her supervisors to bend the rules for me."

His eyes widened impossibly at her words, immediately recalling Lolidragon's confession from the night before.

"Since he was the first player to ever log on the game, we ignored one of the most vital rules of Second Life and gave him one wish as a player. I was the one that conveyed his wish."

He gasped softly at the memory, staring at the girl before him in disbelief.

Lan grimaced, nausea swirling in her abdomen at the growing tension between them with his prolonged silence. "I promised, didn't I? That you would see the real me if Prince disappeared."

Her heart beat ferociously against her chest while her professor continued to stare at her as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Gui took one step forward, then another, and then he was slowly walking towards her. She forced herself to stand her ground, even though she had never wanted so badly to flee.

Gui came to a stop directly in front of her. She stared up at him nervously as he gazed down at her with that smoldering expression he'd only ever used before on her male counterpart. His eyes took in every inch of her face, her eyes, her hair – for several minutes, the only sound between them was their breath.

"It's...it's really you," he whispered, gazing at her in increasing wonder. "Same eyes. Same nose. Same mouth."

Lan swallowed nervously. "You weren't far off when you thought Prince was my brother...Professor."

"You've been right in front of me this whole time," Gui murmured in disbelief, his eyebrows furrowing as he searched her face.

She didn't know quite what to say to that, but she nervously attempted to apologize anyway. "I-I'm sorry I lied to you for so long, Professor. I wasn't sure...I didn't want...I mean..."

He gently wrapped her in his arms, clutching her close with hands that shook like her own. "I thought I told you...merely Gui will suffice."

Lan stiffened in surprise, and blinked as strands of his dark hair caressed her face. She struggled to come up with something to say. "W-Well...don't you dare call me Prince or I'll punch you."

Gui broke out into startled laughter, clutching her smaller frame even tighter. "I can't believe it. It's really you!"

She squirmed against him, embarrassed. "Hey...let go-"

"When are you going to stop pushing me away?" he whispered sadly into her ear. Lan swallowed nervously, her heart thumping obnoxiously loud inside her chest.

"But...I'm a girl," she protested helplessly, pushing at his chest with not even a tenth of Prince's strength. Gui immediately let go of her and backed away slightly, but his hands swiftly came up to cradle her face.

"What did I say to you?"

She blinked, then said intelligently: "Huh?"

"Before the end of the tournament," he reminded her, a soft smile curling the edges of his lips. "Don't you remember what I said?"

"Uh."

"No matter who you are, I don't care." He smiled tenderly at her, and continued repeating the words from so long ago: "Nothing else matters, be it gender, appearance, or the fake personality you may have in real life."

"But-"

"I love you."

Lan froze and stared at him, wide-eyed and disbelieving.

"Prince, Feng Lan...the name does not matter to me. The gender does not matter to me. You are simply you. And you are whom I have fallen for."

Lan sputtered, her face unbearably warm as she blushed at his words. "What- but- you...you don't even know me!"

"Of course I do," Gui replied gently, caressing her cheek with one thumb. "You are still the same sweet, loyal, and violent person I fell for inside the game."

"HEY-"

"I love you."

Too much!, she thought frantically, at a complete loss of what to do or say. She grasped wildly for the first thing that came to mind. "But...you...aren't you gay?"

He blinked at her for a moment, before bursting into startled laughter once again. She flushed in embarrassment, and punched him ferociously in the shoulder. It wasn't nearly as satisfying in real life as it had been in the game, when a single hit would send the bard flying. "Stop laughing at me!"

Gui immediately ceased, but his eyes still glittered with humor as he grinned back at her. "Is that your only objection?"

"Only objection?" she repeated indignantly. "That's a HUGE objection!"

"I never said I was gay," he responded laughingly, grinning at her with a face full of joy. "I said only that I was in love with you, and you assumed I was gay since you were Prince at the time."

Lan frowned. "So...what? You're bi? Or-"

He sighed at her, chuckling once more. "Do you have to give it a label? I simply fell in love with you, and that is all. It didn't matter to me that you were male at the time, or that we were simply in a game. Your wild, free-spirited personality captivated me from the moment I first met you."

She flushed again, glancing away from his face. "...oh."

Gui leaned towards her. (Too close!) "Is that all?"

"What do you mean, is that all?" she snapped irritably. "Have you even considered that-"

His lips effectively silenced her, stealing their first kiss without even the slightest warning. She'd kissed several people in Second Life as Prince, but it felt rather...different, in reality. Gui's lips moved sweetly against her own, as he gently tugged her closer. She leaned against him instead of resisting, grabbing hold of his shirt to regain her balance as the world seemed to tilt. Gui hummed softly against her lips, cradling her head with both of his hands as though he were afraid to let go.

A loud cough from the other side of the room snapped her back into reality, and Lan hastily jerked away from her professor, eyes wide and aimed at the door – where Li Tian Lang stood watching them and failing rather horribly at concealing his smug grin.

"W-W-Wolf-dage!" she stuttered, face flaming as she helplessly tried to push against Gui's unrelenting arms. He clutched her even more tightly, ignoring their friend and fellow teammate.

"I'm not letting you go," Gui murmured softly to her. "Not now that I've found you."

Someone please kill me now before I die of embarrassment!

"As amusing as this is, may I remind you both that this is an infirmary? I'm having a hard time coming up with a good reason for barring the way to my own room."

"Oh, shut up, both of you," she groaned, hiding her face in her hands. They both laughed at her embarrassment, and Gui gently grabbed hold of her hand to tug it away from her face. Tian Lang eyed the both of them for a moment, and then smiled warmly.

"I'm happy you two idiots finally figured it out."

Lan glowered at him. "I should punch you for that."

The doctor simply grinned at her, and then moved out of their way. "I can't wait to tell everyone the news once the servers come back up."

She paused at his words, staring down at her own hand clasped tightly in Gui's. "Oh...that's right, I can't see them anymore..."

Gui squeezed her hand gently. "Of course you can."

"Why don't we have an Odd Squad meeting?" Tian Lang inquired, smiling down at her in the brotherly fashion that had earned him his nickname. "In real life."

Lan smiled up at him. "That sounds like a great idea, Wolf-dage."

Just as Gui reached to open the door, Tian Lang cleared his throat once more. When they turned to look at him inquiringly, he eyed their clasped hands for a moment.

"May I also remind you that it is against school policy for a professor and a student to be in a relationship, before you leave this room and broadcast it to the whole school?"

Chapter Text

After Gui and Lan exited the infirmary (Tian Lang's muffled chuckles echoing behind them while he closed the door), they ended up standing awkwardly in the hallway – neither of them quite sure what to say or how to act now that the secret between them had been revealed.

"Um-" Lan started, right as Gui began to say: "So-"

They both stopped speaking instantly, faces reddening in embarrassment.

"You first," mumbled Lan, glaring at a poster on the wall as though it were the source of her discomfort.

"No, you fir-" began Gui, but then he stopped and awkwardly cleared his throat at the fierce glare she directed towards him. "Well, I was wondering...I only had one class today, so um...how many classes do you have left?"

Lan stared at him incredulously for a moment. Why on earth was he so nervous to ask that?

"Just one more in the afternoon," she answered slowly. "Why?"

Her professor's cheeks flushed slightly. He glanced at her, flushed a deeper crimson color, and then hastily looked away once again. "I was sort of hoping I could...take you out tonight."

She blinked at him, uncomprehending. "Okay. Take me where?"

Gui's eyes darted back to hers, a smirk threatening to lift the corner of his mouth. Lan gazed at him for a few more moments and then felt her face heat up as it clicked in her brain. "Oh! Um, that. Well. Um. S-Sure, I guess...?"

He beamed at her response, then gave a shaky chuckle, reaching up to cover his grin. "It's so strange to think that I refused you that first time, not realizing who you were."

Lan's smile faltered for a moment, but before either of them could say anything, a familiar voice rang out from the other side of the hallway.

"Xiao Lan!"

They both turned towards the voice, and Lan smiled warmly at the newcomer, unaware of Gui's darkening expression behind her. "Zhuo-gege!"

The blonde jogged over to them and hastily grabbed hold of her arm. "I heard you were hurt! Are you okay?"

"Ah!" Lan remembered, then waved her bandaged hand at him frantically. "It's alright, Wolf-dage fixed me up. It doesn't even hurt, see?"

Relief spread across his features, but then he furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Gui before lowering his voice. "And...is everything else alright? With...you know, last night?"

She smiled sadly at him. "Well, I can't say that I'm necessarily happy that Prince is gone, but...I'll be alright."

Ling Bin's eyes unwillingly darted in Gui's direction at her words, nervously gauging the professor's reaction. "Oh...well, that's good."

"It's ok, Zhuo-gege. He knows," Lan replied. "...I told him."

The blonde's eyebrows shot up on his face and disappeared behind his bangs. "He- you- WHAT!"

"What's the matter, Wicked?" Gui spoke softly, his voice leaving a chill in the air even while retaining a polite (albeit slightly chilling) smile on his face. "Angry that you lost?"

Ling Bin's expression darkened into one of fury, one of his hands drawing back into a fist. "You son of a-"

"HEY!" Lan shouted, shoving herself in between the two of them with arms outstretched. "Knock it off, both of you! We're in school, not Second Life!"

Silence followed her outburst, broken only by the soft sound of a door opening.

"What's going on out here?" Tian Lang demanded imperiously, his eyes slowly glancing between each furious man on either side of Lan. No one moved to answer his question, but after a moment Ling Bin's expression faltered.

"Is it true...Xiao Lan?" he whispered, gazing at her sorrowfully. She stared at him as he reached up to grasp the hand she'd placed on his chest in order to force him away from Gui. "You...you really chose him after all?"

"Zhuo-gege...I-"

"Did you forget our promise?" he continued, his fingers tightening around her own.

"I..." she began. Her gaze faltered and dropped to their hands as she took a deep breath, before she slowly raised her eyes back to his. "I'm sorry, Zhuo-gege. You're like a brother to me, I can't...I can't feel that way about you."

Her heart clenched in pain as his expression crumpled into one of intense agony. His fingers clenched around her hand tightly, shaking, and then slowly fell away. "...I see."

She'd never seen that crestfallen look on a man's face before. It shot a lance of pain straight through her soul to hurt one of her closest friends.

Ling Bin turned away before she could see the tears gathering in his eyes, and began to walk back down the corridor in silence.

"Zhuo-gege, wait-"

He stopped in his tracks at her words, and then turned to gaze at her over his shoulder. "I love you, Xiao Lan."

Lan inhaled sharply in surprise at his words - despite his confession several months prior, he'd never actually said those particular words to her face. She opened her mouth, heart aching for his pain...but then she couldn't figure out what to say, so she sadly closed her mouth.

He gave a painful smile that looked more like a grimace. "Do you love him?"

She glanced at her professor, whose forcibly blank face did nothing to hide the turmoil in his eyes as he awaited her answer, and then she glanced in the other direction to see Tian Lang's reaction - but, he had apparently decided it was best to leave their conversation between the three of them, and was nowhere in sight.

Her eyes fell to the floor as she pondered his question. Did she love Gui? She'd always adamantly refused to consider the possibility of reciprocating the bard's feelings – she had been so convinced that he was gay and would be disgusted to discover her true self, she focused all her attention on making sure he never found out.

But...

She couldn't deny the way her heartbeat sped up every time he fixated his serious gaze on her, or the way her heart had swelled with joy and wonder at his amorous confession. She would be lying if she tried to say that it hadn't hurt her deeply to think that he wouldn't care about her anymore if he discovered who she was. She would be lying if she tried to say she didn't look forward to seeing his face every day and night, despite the annoyance of him throwing himself at her male counterpart.

Maybe she'd really just been lying to herself the whole time.

Finally, her eyes moved slowly back to Ling Bin's despairing expression.

"...yes," she whispered softly in the stillness. "Yes, I love him."

Ling Bin's features trembled, and he pressed his lips together in a frown to keep himself from crying in front of her. He opened his mouth to say something, but apparently could not force the words out of his throat – finally, he simply turned and walked away.

Lan watched his retreating back until he turned down another hallway, and tried to convince herself that she hadn't just lost one of her dearest friends.

A gentle hand landed on her shoulder moments later, squeezing slightly. "For what it's worth...I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

She gazed sadly down the empty hallway. "...Gui?"

"Yes?"

"Take me home."

"...alright."

Later...

The two of them walked side-by-side down the city streets, heading in the direction of the bus stop where Lan normally boarded to head home. She gazed blankly down at her feet as they made their way down the sidewalk, Gui casting several worried glances in her direction periodically. As they paused to wait for a light to change, the young professor unexpectedly leaned towards her.

"Such a gloomy expression does not suit your Highness," he said slyly, raising up a hand to caress her face. "Come now, let Gui cheer-"

Her face flamed and she instinctively smacked him in the face. "What the hell, you crazy bard!"

She stomped off down the crosswalk as the light changed, Gui following after her while chuckling and rubbing his jaw. Lan stopped at the other edge of the street, studiously avoiding looking at his face as he approached her.

"Well," he began cheerfully. "If there was ever any doubt who you were, I think that would've cleared it right up."

Lan glanced at his face, and then hastily looked away, glowering at the wall. "...sorry."

"Hmm?" he inquired mischievously. "Sorry for what?"

Her face reddened just like he'd hoped. "For...y-you know...hitting you. It's such a habit when you say stuff like that, I forgot we weren't in the game."

Gui bent down slightly so his face would be on the same level as hers, smirking boldly. "I don't mind, my princess."

"P-P-Princess?" she sputtered in outrage, instinctively raising her arm. "You-!"

Her fist trembled slightly mid-air as she pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to hit him again. She glared at him irritably. "You are such a masochist."

The professor grinned. "Then wouldn't that make you a sadist?"

She made an indignant expression at his words and then stalked off in annoyance, muttering obscenities under her breath. He followed after her calmly, smiling to himself. As they walked, her brown eyes slid over to stare at him every few moments, quickly darting back to the front as soon as he noticed. Eventually, she quietly murmured: "Why do you always do that, anyway?"

"Do what?"

Her expression darkened. "Harass me."

"Hmmmm," he hummed slyly. "I would prefer to think of it as 'teasing,' my dear princess."

"Teasing? YOU-!" she protested, whirling around to glare at his face. Before she could utter another word, he swiftly leaned forward to steal a short kiss. The effect he'd intended was instantaneous, as her face immediately lit up like a flame and she spluttered incoherently for several seconds.

"But the real reason," he continued, before she could become coherent enough to hit him again, "Is because I was trying to get rid of that sad look in your eyes."

She paused, blinking up at him in surprise. He smiled warmly down at her innocent features while she gazed up at him with a thoughtful look, as though she were contemplating an unexpected phenomenon in an otherwise ordinary situation. After a few moments, Lan smiled up at her professor. "Thanks, Gui."

"Anytime, your highness."

"So what did- hey, don't call me that!"

"Ah, but you only said I couldn't call you Prince before. Are you changing your mind now?"

"You! YOU!" Lan seemed beside herself with embarrassed fury, and swiftly whirled around to stomp off down the sidewalk again. "Just you wait until the servers come back! IDIOT!"

Gui followed after his princess, laughing silently to himself the whole way.

Chapter Text

When they were within sight of the bus stop Lan normally used to travel to and from the university, she unexpectedly stopped in front of an electronics store. Curious at the sudden pause, Gui gazed at her for a moment and then followed the direction of her gaze to one of the vid-screens displayed in the front of the store. He frowned at the screen, which was currently displaying "WORLDWIDE OUTRAGE! Popular Second Life character Prince deleted from servers! CEO ignoring requests to restore character!" There were no subtitles displayed on the vid-screen (which he found himself somewhat thankful for, considering the subject), but the newscaster's lips were moving swiftly and angrily as he made agitated gestures with his hands. The screen switched over to a view of the streets surrounding Life Industries, where countless masses of people were angrily shouting at the police guarding the building. Several items were thrown at it, defacing the surface with rotted food and large paintballs, while others simply clutched hold of their protest banners and cried in full view of the camera. Gui snuck a glance at Lan's face, and was alarmed to find it curiously blank.

"Feng Lan..." he said quietly. "Are you-"

"It's Xiao Lan," she snapped, scowling fiercely at the vid-screen.

Gui tentatively reached out for her shoulder. "Xiao Lan...are you alright?"

"OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGHT!" she shrieked suddenly at the top of her lungs, making him recoil in surprise. "OOOOOH! IT MAKES ME SOOO MAD!"

He watched in wide-eyed silence as she stomped her foot like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"Those manipulative bastards! I ought'a give them a piece of my mind! Making me their spokesperson, making me save their stupid video game, making me fix their stupid mess, then kicking me to the curb!" she snarled, tears of fury welling up in her eyes as she finally released all of the anger she'd hidden beneath her sorrow, punctuating each word with a stomp of her foot as though she were trying to break the concrete. "It makes me- SO- FREAKING- MAD!"

With a final foot stomp, she clenched her fists and screamed wordlessly at the sky.

When she'd finally finished venting all of her rage at the clouds, she glared down at the cement beneath her feet, breathing heavily. Gui could only smile elatedly at her wild and fierce emotion, recalling how it had been the first thing that had initially drawn him to her after their first awkward meeting in the online city. Neither of them cared that several people on the street were now staring at them in extreme alarm.

"Feel better?" he asked warmly.

She turned and grinned fiercely at him in response, reminding him unmistakably of the way Prince would smile at the end of a grisly battle, blood sprayed all over his impossibly beautiful elven face. Unable to help himself, Gui raised a hand and trailed his fingers across her cheek. "You are so beautiful."

Lan gave a short laugh, shaking her head. "And you are impossible."

She reached out and grabbed his hand boldly, unable to feel shy at such an action with all the adrenaline racing through her veins, and laced their fingers together. "Come on, you're treating me to ice cream!"

He smiled happily at her change in mood, and followed his princess obediently as she dragged him through their city.

"So what made you play Second Life in the first place?" Gui Wen inquired curiously, once they were seated at Lan's favorite ice cream parlor with their orders.

She paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth, and then frowned thoughtfully at her giant sundae. "Because Yang Ming pissed me off."

Gui hastily controlled the snort of laughter that attempted to leave his throat and attempted to wipe his face blank. "While your brother can be aggravating...I don't understand. He didn't seem to know who you were when I accused him of being Prince?"

"He didn't!" she replied smugly. "The day Second Life came out, he was harassing me and saying that girls can't do anything on their own in games, and they don't have to work for anything they get because guys will help them level. I wanted to prove the smug bastard wrong, so I chose a warrior and demanded to be male."

Her professor just blinked at her for minute. "That's it? You had one wish you could've used for anything in the game, and you used it to show him up?"

"Absolutely," she replied triumphantly. Gui stared at her in bemusement for a few more moments, not quite sure what to say in response. She gazed thoughtfully at the buttons on his shirt, and then continued: "Well...there was more to it than that. I wanted to choose my own destiny. I didn't want to have to rely on other people to achieve what I wanted – I wanted to work for what I gained, and work hard for it. I just...I wanted..."

"To be yourself?"

Lan's eyes lifted to meet his warm gaze. "...yeah."

Gui smiled at her gently. "Me too."

"You?" she repeated in surprise. "You wanted to be in a game so you could be silly and ridiculous?"

He shrugged. "I never really got to experience childhood. My parents always pushed me to be the best, to excel at everything I did and everything they wanted me to do. I wasn't really allowed to run around and play or have fun."

"That sounds...stifling." Lan grimaced at the thought of such a life.

Gui mirrored her expression wryly. "It was."

They ate their respective ice cream in comfortable silence for a few moments. Lan thought back to the whirlwind day she'd had, and wondered what in the world she would do for stress relief without Second Life as her escape. She had no way of contacting anyone in the game beyond the ones she knew of who lived nearby. What had become of Doll, or Yu Lian? What of Nan Gong Zui, Fairsky, Western Wind and all of the other people she'd come to care for so deeply in the months she'd played? Were Kenshin and Sunshine alright with the servers down? Would they even retain their self-awareness after the giant maintenance patch? When the servers came back up, would she even want to keep playing without being able to live as the elven lord she'd come to be so fond of? What if-

"Your highness~ if you're tired, please let this humble bard feed you."

She'd flung her spoon at him before her brain had even fully processed his words, resulting in an audible smack as her large spoonful of ice cream landed right in the middle of his face. They stared at each other for a few moments (along with a few others sitting nearby) as the spoon slid off and clattered to the floor, and then Lan's lips twitched. She pressed her mouth together tightly, but her breath struggled to escape her nose in audible puffs as she tried vainly to reign it in...

...but all was lost.

Lan threw her head back as she burst into uncontrollable laughter, pointing at his face and smacking the edge of the table in mirth. "You...you...ahahahaha!"

The stoic professor calmly wiped his face with a nearby napkin and then snatched the sodden spoon off the floor to return it to the table. He watched her for a moment, and then his lips began twitching as well.

"If her highness wanted Gui to be wet, all she had to do was ask," he quipped with a smirk that threatened to turn into a grin. Lan roared with laughter even harder, clutching wildly at her aching stomach. Gui Wen began to chuckle along with her, and then he started laughing outright. The other customers in the store had all frozen and were just staring in disbelief at the ridiculous scene playing out before them.

When a waitress nervously approached and asked if they were alright, the pair just laughed even harder.

Eventually the amused pair quieted down enough to stumble out of the store, clutching both of their aching stomachs.

Lan wearily wiped at the wetness in the corners of her eyes. "Holy crap, I haven't laughed that hard in ages. I think I needed that."

Her professor chuckled slightly at her. "It wasn't quite the effect I'd intended, but I'm glad it worked all the same."

She huffed slightly in amusement, and then gazed up at him with a sweet smile. "Thanks, Gui."

Gui reached up with one hand to tug gently on her ponytail. "Anytime, princess."

Lan just rolled her eyes at him and reached out to clasp his hand. "So...where exactly are we going tonight?"

"To tell you the truth, I hadn't really thought about it," he replied sheepishly. "Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

She reflected on his question for a bit, and then smiled slightly. "Today's been kind of crazy. I'd really just...like to relax a bit."

"Well, you could come home with me."

Lan's head whipped up to stare at him in complete and utter shock, her cheeks reddening. Woah! He's fast!

Gui glanced down at her expression, and his face instantly lit up with a cherry red color. "N-N-Not like that! I just meant...y-you know, we could watch movies, or- or play some old console games, or- I- you-"

"You're so ridiculous," she laughed, trying to calm her startled heart.

His expression abruptly sobered. "Is that why you never honestly considered my feelings?"

Caught off guard by the serious question, Lan stared at him for a moment and then swallowed nervously. "Well...I..."

Awkward silence descended over the pair, with Lan nervously attempting to gather her thoughts.

"...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

Lan smiled softly and shook her head. "Mm-mm...you're right. I never really thought you were serious. At least...not until that date we had. But even then, you just seemed so silly in the game, I never truly considered how serious you might be, or what my feelings were."

Gui Wen regarded her seriously. "What changed?"

A memory of his furious face screaming at her in Infinite City's throne room flashed in her mind. "You showed me how serious you were...the day I installed ND."

His expression darkened in remembrance, and he raised his hands to gently clasp her shoulders. "When I did this?"

Lan nodded slightly, and gazed up at the tall man. "You'd never been so forceful or serious with me before. It...made me remember that you aren't just some silly, brainless guy."

Gui smirked slightly at her words. "Is that why you promised?"

"...maybe."

His brown eyes seared her own as he slowly leaned closer to her face. "I'm glad."

"W-Wait..."

And there, in the middle of their crowded city, Gui kissed the princess that was finally his.

Chapter Text

In the end, they never made it to Gui's apartment at all. After sharing lunch together (this time without any food-throwing incidents), the duo took the public bus to Lan's neighborhood and walked the rest of the way to her home.

"So, why exactly did you want to come here?" Lan inquired as they approached the door to the Feng home. Gui just smiled enigmatically in response, so she shrugged and placed her hand on the door panel.

The panel beeped cheerfully at her upon recognizing her fingerprints and the shape of her hand, and spoke to her with an even-toned electronic voice. "Welcome home, Feng Lan."

The door slid open with a soft whoosh and the pair stepped inside. Lan relaxed ever so slightly as she stepped into the comfort of the home she'd come to love, whilst Gui glanced around at the interior of their home in irrepressible curiousity. The main entry room was designed similar to the average 2100 AD family-sized home, with industrial wall paneling and bright lighting, but the furniture and decorations tastefully spaced throughout the room gave their home a warm sort of feeling that made Gui feel as though he too could relax here. The two of them quickly took off their shoes, and Lan toed into her personal slippers before grabbing a guest pair for Gui's usage.

"Xiao Lan, is that you?" her mother's voice called distantly from another room.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"You're home early." Mrs. Feng replied, the sound of her voice getting louder as she approached the main room. "Are you skipping your class?"

"Erm-"

"That's partly my fault, Mrs. Feng," Gui interrupted. "I do apologize, but I thought it best to bring Xiao Lan home."

There was a slight pause, and then her mother's face appeared through a doorway at the other end of the room, leading to her and her husband's in-home office. Her brown eyes widened in surprise and delight at the sight of Gui standing in their home, and she swiftly called for her husband before hurriedly approaching them.

"Oh my!" Lan's mother exclaimed, unsuccessfully hiding her grin behind one hand. "Aren't you that Guileastos fellow from Infinite City?"

Gui blushed slightly. "Well, yes I am. I am also the professor of Modern Literature at XX University."

"Oh, I see...is Xiao Lan in trouble at school?"

"Mom!" Lan protested in outrage. "Of course not!"

"What's going on?" Lan's father inquired with interest as he entered the room, rubbing the stubble on his chin in an absent-minded sort of way.

His wife turned to face him with hands on her hips and a dramatic sigh. "Our daughter had to be escorted home by her professor."

"Really?"

"Um, no, please don't get the wrong idea-" Gui began nervously, raising his hands as if that could stop her parents' conversation from spiralling further out of control.

"What are you getting up to at school?" her father questioned with obvious amusement, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Absolutely nothing," Lan drawled scathingly. "Unless you count dating my professor."

There was a pregnant pause, and then her parents both exclaimed: "WHAT?" (Although her mother's exclamation sounded more like a shout of joy than a question.)

Gui hastily bowed towards her parents to show his respect. "Please excuse me for not asking your permission first! My name is Min Gui Wen. I am very much in love with your daughter and would like to date her."

Lan flushed a deep crimson, and shook from the effort of holding back the urge to smack Gui upside the head. She glanced at her parents, and sighed at the look of extreme delight on their faces (there would be no stopping them now...). Her mother in particular looked as though the next ten Christmases had come early.

"Oh yes, that's quite alright," her mother responded gleefully. "Why don't you stay for dinner? Xiao Lan is an excellent cook."

"I'm the only one who can cook in this family," Lan grumbled.

Gui chuckled at her low comment, and then agreed warmly with her mother's invitation. "Thank you, Mrs. Feng, I would love to."

Her mother swiftly threaded one arm through Gui's and tugged him towards the nearby sofa. "So, tell me a little about yourself, Professor. What made you interested in our Xiao Lan?"

"Mom!" Lan shrieked indignantly, stomping after the pair and determinedly ignoring her father's proud wink. "Don't ask him stuff like that!"

Gui flushed and awkwardly attempted to answer. "W-Well...it started in Second Life at first, but-"

"You do not have to finish that answer, Gui," Lan stated threateningly, her lips tugging up into a scary smile that would have made Yu Lian proud. He took one look at her, and immediately swallowed the rest of his sentence. The room was silent for several moments, and then her father brilliantly asked: "So, you fell for our little Lan while she was male?"

Lan buried her face in her hand with a heartfelt groan. Please let this day end soon.

After nearly an hour of interrogation, Lan finally managed to drag Gui away from her parents and towards the room where her family kept most of their entertainment (except Second Life, of course). He immediately moved towards the niches in the wall containing their game, movie, and book selections, chatting with her as he did so.

"Thanks for letting me come here. Your parents are-"

"Horrifyingly nosy and ridiculous?"

"...I was going to say interesting."

"Well, that's one word for it," Lan muttered darkly, remembering her parents' strange delight over knowing that Gui Wen had fallen in love with Prince first and had now transferred those affections to include Lan as the elf's real life self.

Come to think of it...

"So..." she began awkwardly, studiously looking at anything but the man standing in the middle of their entertainment room. "Which one do you prefer?"

Thinking that she was referring to the items he was staring at, Gui answered, "Oh, I don't know. Either one is fine with me. We could watch a movie or play some games, or both. Or, if there's something else you'd like to do, that's fine with me."

Lan frowned at his inability to grasp her meaning. "No, I meant...about Prince."

He paused and turned his head to gaze at her questioningly, a familiar confused expression on his face. "Huh?"

"Which one do you prefer?" she repeated forcefully, glowering at the wall behind his shoulder as though she could melt it with the force of her gaze alone. "Me, or Prince?"

Lan tried not to fidget in the resulting silence, but it was a hard challenge as Gui walked towards her. She averted her gaze to his shirt sleeve when he got too close for her to stare at the wall, and chewed her bottom lip while nervously awaiting his reply.

"That's a stupid question."

Surprised by his unnaturally insulting response, she whipped her eyes up to his face and scowled angrily. "How exactly is that a-"

"Because you should already know the answer to that," Gui retorted sternly. Lan marveled at how different he could be in reality; she hardly knew how to react to this intelligent and composed man instead of the silly poet she'd become so used to.

"Well, I don't! So I'm asking!" she snapped in response, clenching her right hand into a fist and debating the merits of punching him with it.

Gui leaned down closer to her face so he could stare into her brown eyes. "I do not need to choose, because you and Prince are the same."

"WE ARE NOT-"

"BUT," Gui interrupted loudly over her raised voice, "IF I had to choose, then obviously I would pick the one at whose side I can always be. The one whom I can always talk to. The one I don't have to constantly worry about because I can't see them. The one I can hold and be with whenever I want."

Lan closed her mouth in surprise, her angry tirade stemmed before it could even be formed and unleashed.

"You...not Prince."

Her face heated at his words, and she raised a hand to slap his arm with. "D-Don't say such embarrassing things!"

Gui easily caught her half-hearted swing, and pulled her forward by the captive arm. "Does that answer your silly question? Or do you have more?"

Lan scowled at him. "Don't get so cocky. Just 'cause I don't have Prince's strength right now doesn't mean I can't punch you."

The tall man's lips twitched in amusement. "Oh, I'm well aware of that, princess."

"UGH. Please, get a room."

Yang Ming received a swift roundhouse kick in the side before he had even fully finished the last word or stepped more than two feet into the room, courtesy of one twin sibling.

"STUPID BROTHER!" she roared, fury and horrified embarrassment warring on her beet red face. Gui held her back by her flailing arms, struggling to contain his laughter. "Go away!"

Yang Ming coughed in pain, holding his aching ribs where her foot had connected skillfully. "What the hell! This isn't your room, I can be here if I want."

"Well, I'm telling you to leave!"

"Make me!" he stuck his tongue out at her childishly. Lan glowered at him and sulked in their professor's hold, unable to break free without Prince's raw brute strength. "Oh, by the way Professor - Ugly Wolf told me to tell you to call him when you get a chance."

Gui furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why didn't he just call me himself?"

Yang Ming leered. "He probably didn't want to interrupt your date."

Left with no other weapons, Lan kicked at her brother wildly, managing to fling her slipper off with the gesture and shoot it with uncanny precision at his face. He yelled in surprise and flung his hands up wildly.

"If you don't leave us alone, I'm giving your dinner portion to Gui," Lan threatened gleefully.

"Siiiii~iis," Yang Ming whined. She glared at him furiously, and he scowled before turning away with a grumbled: "You always threaten me with food..."

"Cause it's the only thing that works," she muttered under her breath as he retreated for a safer location.

Gui cautiously let go of Lan's arms now that her intended victim was out of sight, and she smacked his bicep in retaliation with a huff. He just chuckled softly in reaction, before plucking his mobile out of a pocket.

"Li Tian Lang," he instructed, holding the device face-up in his palm. It beeped cheerfully a few times at him, and then paused before pulling up the school doctor's face on a life-sized hologram above Gui's outstretched palm. "Yo. Feng Yang Ming said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Hi, Wolf-dage!" Lan said cheerfully, giving a little wave. Tian Lang smiled at the both of them.

"Hey, glad you're both together. I've been talking to Yu Lian about the six of us getting together for a real life meet-up, and she said her and Doll would love to. So, do you two have any ideas where we could meet?"

"Somewhere without reporters," Lan replied instantly with a small shudder at the thought of how the paparazzi would react to so many Odd Squad members in one place. Her identity would be outed in mere seconds.

"I second that," Gui interjected wryly. "So anywhere near the school is an automatic no. Maybe we could use the transporters to meet up somewhere outside of T City?"

"That might be wise, especially considering who Doll is."

"Actually, will she even be able to travel anywhere without attracting attention?" Lan mused doubtfully.

"We'll let Yu Lian worry about that," Tian Lang chuckled. "In the meantime, we need to come up with a location that isn't too close to the school or any other high traffic areas, with the least possible chance of being noticed."

The trio pondered for a few moments.

"Why don't we just meet up at your house, Wolf-ge?" Gui suggested, when it looked like no one else was managing to think of an idea. "Since you don't look anything like your avatar and the paparazzi hasn't noticed you yet, it would be the ideal location."

"And you could have Yu Lian sleep over."

The two men turned shocked stares toward the brunette at Gui's side, who smiled innocently at the doctor's cherry red face. He coughed to cover up his embarrassment, reminding the other two squad members instantly of his furry online counterpart.

"W-Well, anyways," Tian Lang stammered. "Meeting up here would be fine. I'll call her back and let them know."

"Tell them hi for me!" Lan instructed gleefully with a suggestive smile. Tian Lang coughed lightly and nodded, before shutting off the holo-call. Gui slanted his eyes in her direction with an amused smirk, to which she gave a sunny and perfectly innocent smile.

"Hm. Well now, where were we?" Gui inquired, sounding equally innocent.

Lan blanched and giggled nervously. "Uh...I think I should go start on dinner..."

"It's been barely two hours since we had lunch," Gui responded with obvious amusement, reaching out to snag her wrist with one hand.

"I happen to like food!" Lan protested, attempting to tug her arm away from his grip. Gui put a finger to his bottom lip and stared up at the ceiling as though working through a difficult math problem.

"Hmmm. I think we were debating the merits of my having more strength than you for once," he mused with exaggerated astonishment. "Isn't that right?"

She scowled. "I am so going to kill you when the servers come back."

Chapter Text

A Note from the Author:

Unfortunately, I have decided that I will not finish this story. Anyone is welcome to pick up the tale and continue, if they'd like.

For a summary of what I had originally intended with this plot, see below:

Everyone from Prince's party in Second Life meet up in the real world and get to know each other. Lan explains who she is, and assuages Lolidragon's guilt for her role in Prince's character being non-recoverable. The group bonds and agrees to keep in touch in real life, even if they never meet again online.

Immediately afterwards, the news releases a story speculating that Feng Lan is the real Prince, using a photo taken of Lan shoving her hand into the camera, with Gui staring at her in the background. The photo is placed side-by-side with a photo from the game, showing how similar she and Prince are in appearance, mannerisms, etc.

Reporters swarm their school, trying to harass Lan for a live confession of her identity. She loses her temper on camera, and Gui intervenes quickly, but the damage is done - the world becomes 99% convinced of Prince's true identity. A campaign is begun to petition for Lan to be reinstated as Prince in the game, and to hire her as an official employee. Record labels seek her out for her singing voice.

Frankly, I don't really remember what I had planned for the plot after this, but the end goal was a happy ending with Gui and Lan marrying. Which, as we all know, is what happened in canon anyway. :)

Thank you for reading.